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Old 16-10-2006, 03:27 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Problem blowing out sprinklers

I have a small 4-zone system at my house. My property is about 100 feet
deep and 50 feet wide so the sprinkler system does not really cover much
land. The system has a Wilkins Model 420 Pressure Vacuum Breaker right
where the main water line comes out of the house before it goes to the four
zone valves. There is a drain plug in the main water line outside the
house that sits right below the Wilkins breaker. This drain plug is where
the pressure tap is connected to blow out the system.

I have a Sears 5.5 HP 25 gallon compressor that is rated at 8.6 CFM @ 40
PSI and 6.4 CFM @ 90 PSI. I have 50 feet of 3/8 copper tubing in a coil at
the output of my compressor going to a water filter and a quick release
fitting. I ran 75 feet of ½" rubber air hose (after the 50-ft copper coil)
out to the drain plug below my Wilkins breaker. I filled my compressor,
turned on one zone of my sprinkler and set turned my compressor regulator
to 50 PSI of output. I heard a lot of "gurgling" at the Wilkins breaker
but my sprinkler heads did not pop up. I raised the pressure a bit to 70
PSI but the sprinkler heads still did not pop up. I had a similar problem
last year but after a while of experimenting I got the sprinkler heads to
pop at 50 PSI and the "gurgling" went away. I am not sure how I got it to
work last year but I cannot get it to work again this year.

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem might be? Is it possible that
my compressor is not flowing enough CFM? Would it help if I pulled my
compressor out of garage and put it near the sprinkler drain plug and used
a much shorter rubber airline to hook up my pressure tap?
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Old 18-10-2006, 07:48 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Problem blowing out sprinklers


Computer Prog wrote:
I have a small 4-zone system at my house.
I have a Sears 5.5 HP 25 gallon compressor that is rated at 8.6 CFM @ 40
PSI and 6.4 CFM @ 90 PSI. I have 50 feet of 3/8 copper tubing in a coil at
the output of my compressor going to a water filter and a quick release
fitting. I ran 75 feet of ½" rubber air hose (after the 50-ft copper coil)
out to the drain plug below my Wilkins breaker. I filled my compressor,
turned on one zone of my sprinkler and set turned my compressor regulator
to 50 PSI of output. I heard a lot of "gurgling" at the Wilkins breaker
but my sprinkler heads did not pop up. I raised the pressure a bit to 70
PSI but the sprinkler heads still did not pop up.


Hi, I am not an expert at this, but you haven't gotten any other
replies in the last 48 hours so i thought i would share my experiences.
I have a 6 zone system that covers just under a third of an acre (sorry
no measurements handy). I also have a Sears compressor - mine is 25
gal, 3.5 max/1.6 operating HP and a pressure up to 175 PSI. According
to the specs mine is rated at 5.6@40 and 5.1@90 - so yours is pushing a
great deal more air than mine is.
I do essentially the same thing in that I pressure up the tank and run
50ft of rubber air hose to the point where my pressurized irrigation
feeds into the sprinkler valve box. I have a special fitting I built
from parts that connects the air hose to a hose bib on the irrigation
system. I turn on one zone and plug in the air hose quick connect to
let it rip. My compressor has no trouble in raising the heads on my
sprinklers. I don't recall what specific pressure I set it to though.
I do recall starting out sort of gently and then slowly increasing the
PSI until it would lift the sprinkler heads though - i was afraid of
blowing things apart initially.
I guess i don't get the purpose of the 50ft copper tubing - is this a
water trap or other?
It seems based on my experience that you have the horsepower and there
may be something else going wrong.
Good Luck,
Matt

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Old 20-10-2006, 01:05 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Problem blowing out sprinklers

On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 01:27:08 GMT, Computer Prog wrote:
out to the drain plug below my Wilkins breaker. I filled my compressor,
turned on one zone of my sprinkler and set turned my compressor regulator
to 50 PSI of output. I heard a lot of "gurgling" at the Wilkins breaker
but my sprinkler heads did not pop up. I raised the pressure a bit to 70


It sounds like the air is going back thru and being released by the
vacuum breaker or by the drain valve. When I blow out my system
(considerably larger) I make sure to turn off a valve at the output of
my backflow prevention device (BFD) so that the air has no choice but to
go thru the valves and heads. This also eliminates any chance that the
high back pressure from the compressor might damage the BFD. I also
keep closed the drain valve until after I've blown out the system.

sdb

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Old 24-10-2006, 11:30 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Problem blowing out sprinklers

The 50-ft copper coil allows the compressed air to cool before it goes
to my water trap.

I moved the compressor very close to breaker and ran a short hose to
the pressure port. This allowed me to blow out my sprinklers
properly. The breaker stops "gurgling" after I give it enough airflow
to "open it", at which point the air goes to the heads and they pop up.
That point seems to be an indicated 65-70 PSI on my compressor output
gauge. Once the heads pop I can immediately reduce the air pressure
and the breaker will remain open with the heads remaining up. I
reduced it to an indicated 50 PSI after the heads popped up. The heads
will remain up even if I dial the pressure down to an indicated 25 PSI.


My compressor was not able to keep up with the airflow at 50 PSI so
the pressure dropped slowly as I blew out the lines. I had to cut the
airflow to allow the compressor to catch up a handful of times.

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